Let’s just say that I think I may have just had beginners luck. My first try at egg dough pasta turned out great! It was the most delicious fettuccini that I have ever had – honestly so good. Let me tell you more about my pasta perfection.
First, I actually went out and found the right tools for the job. I was able to get my hands on a hand crank pasta machine. It is heavy duty and good quality. Next I made sure that I had the right ingredients. I used regular all purpose flour as the recipe called for but I went out and bought a better quality extra virgin olive oil to help give my pasta the flavour that was suggested. I found out that pasta is generally made up of two ingredients flour and liquid, the difference between types of pasta is what you choose to use for the liquid in the dough as well as the type of flour. For this attempt I used the Instructables pasta class, making egg dough pasta, as I am working my through this online resource. You can find the recipe in the Instructables link.
After completing the first five lessons from the Instructables class, I was ready to try making egg dough pasta that I would use to make fettuccini. I poured the flour on to my cutting board and made a well in the center. Then I cracked my eggs directly into the well, added the oil, and then the water. I used a fork to mix up the eggs and start to incorporate into the flour. I was quite skeptical as it didn’t seem to be coming together like the video had shown. I was beginning to have flashbacks to the “pasta disata” I mentioned in my first project blog post, Buongiorno! Perfect Pasta Project. I ended up leaving a bit of flour on the board because it did not seem like there would be enough liquid to absorb the flour. One of the tips from the lesson said that it is easier to add flour later than to try and take it out. If you would like to watch the process I have included a video. Be kind this is the first video that I have made like this.
I was so happy with the way the dough came together. It was encouraging to see that with the help from the videos I knew what the dough should look and feel like. The next step in the process was to roll it out and cut it into ribbon pasta, I chose to cut it into fettuccini. The dough rolled out perfectly using the hand crank pasta machine. I also used the pasta machine to cut the pasta using the fettuccini attachment. Although my fettuccini was a little sticky at first, I lightly dusted my sheets of pasta with flour and it solved the issue. I am including another video showing the process of rolling and cutting my pasta.
I was a little concerned as the “nests” I made were sticky so I pulled them a part and hung them around the edge of a container and that seemed to help. The pasta dried a bit as I let rest before I cooked it.
To cook my pasta I brought a large pot of water to a boil and added about two tablespoons of salt to the water. I only put one portion the pot at a time because I did not want to over crowd the pot. I used tongs to stir the fettuccini noodles and once the water came back to a boil I let them cooks for about two minutes. I checked to see if they were close to being done by tasting a piece. The pasta was not quite Al Dente which is what I wanted as I was going to continue to cook it for a few minutes in the sauce that I had made in another pan. I pulled the noodles out of the pot using a fine strainer and tongs. I did not pour them out, a tip shared by Helen Rennie on YouTube, because there is flour on the fresh pasta, it settles at the bottom of the pot so if you dump the water over the pasta the flour water goes back on the noodles and can make them sticky and gloopy. I tossed the noodles in a very simple cream sauce that I made using left over bacon, cream, and parmesan cheese (I will talk more about sauces later on in my project).
Thank you for reading and following along with me on my learning project blog. I will continue to explore the art of making homemade fresh pasta. I think I will try and tackle hand made pasta shapes next. Stay tuned!
“Noodles are not only amusing but delicious.” ~ Julia Child https://www.azquotes.com/author/2810-Julia_Child
An Educational Journey 
Love the video! I think you should have a cooking show 🙂 I have never made pasta from scratch. Looks delicious.
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Thanks Shelly, I had fun making it! I highly recommend trying it.
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Thank you so much for sharing your creation. I really enjoyed all the pictures and videos of your process! Did you throw the noodles against the wall to see if they’d stick when ready, or is that just a TV thing? I look forward to seeing what you make next week.
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Hi there, I am glad that you read / watched my blog. Hmm, I did not throw the noodles at the wall, but I might just have to try it!
Take care.
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